By Fabio Parasecoli

 

GASTRONATIVISM

Food, Identity, Politics

Why has eating become so politically charged—and can the emotions surrounding food be redirected in a healthier direction? Fabio Parasecoli identifies and defines the phenomenon of “gastronativism,” the ideological use of food to advance ideas about who belongs to a community and who does not. As globalization and neoliberalism have transformed food systems, people have responded by seeking to return to their roots. Many have embraced local ingredients and notions of cultural heritage, but this impulse can play into the hands of nationalist and xenophobic political projects. Such movements draw on the strong emotions connected with eating to stoke resentment and contempt for other people and cultures.

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Eating Pets and Bomb Threats: How Weaponizing Food Helps Trump Win Votes

Maria Contreras illustration for Foreign Policy The dinner table unites and divides, especially the question of what we eat and how we eat it. It is therefore not surprising that politicians frequently use food as a wedge issue to push their ideological agendas and...

Fascism, food, and women: totalitarism at the table

This is a draft of my review of Diana Garvin's book, Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women’s Food Work, published on the journal MLN. Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 film Bicycle Thieves has marked world cinema with its raw representations of post-World War II poverty in...

The Makaron Case: Pasta, Poland, and Politics

Italian pasta has suddenly become very hot in Polish politics (ok, terrible pun, but bear with me…). On Wednesday October 3rd, Janusz Kowalski, the deputy minister for Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, posted an infographic on his X account in which he...

Queering the Menu: a Dinner at Davide Scabin’s Table

A dinner at a Davide Scabin’s establishment is an event that keeps you thinking and musing for a while. And the tasting menu he now offers at his new Carignano Restaurant at the Grand Hotel Sitea in Turin is no exception. In many ways, this is not your run-of-the-mill...

Culinary Tourism and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities

How can tourists be educated through experiences that allow them to share aspects of the local life without excessively disturbing nature and local communities? How do you avoid forms of disneyfication that may turn locals into extras? On March 24 and 25th, the 5the...

Relaxed Woke Cooking: The Big Brunch on HBO Max

Just like a brunch is about leisure and relaxation with friends and family, The Big Brunch on HBO Max builds culinary entertainment that is good-natured, with contestants supporting each other, with less frantic rhythm and editing style, without bombast and brashness....

Gastronativism: Food as an ideological tool in a globalized world

Present-day gastronativism differs from previous manifestations. It inevitably reflects not only the structure and flows of the global food system but also the social, economic, and political power relations that underpin it and determine its mechanisms. "The way food...

Gastronativism: Food, Identity, Politics

An excerpt from my new book Gastronativism: why reflecting on the connections between food, identity, and politics is important. "IN MANY ways, this book has been in the making for a long time. I have been interested in international politics for many years: I studied...

The cost of Putin’s war: A food security plan for Central and Eastern Europe

by Agata Bachórz, Natasha Bunzl, Eszter Kovacs, Diana Mincyte, Fabio Parasecoli, Simone Piras, Mihai Varga. In Central and Eastern Europe the strain of providing for the refugees from Ukraine is affecting not only large cities but also rural areas near the Ukrainian...

Food in Popular Culture: Why does it matter?

Whatever it is that pop culture does to reach it goals, it does it right. It is a spectacle that works, building on dreams and desires. And food is pervasive in contemporary Western pop culture, influencing the way we perceive and represent ourselves as individuals...

 

Fabio Parasecoli

Fabio Parasecoli is Professor of Food Studies in the Nutrition and Food Studies Department at New York University. His scholarly work explores food, popular culture, and politics, particularly in food design. He studied East Asian cultures and political science in Rome, Naples and Beijing, and earned a PhD in Agricultural Sciences with a concentration in Gender and Nutrition from Hohenheim University, Germany. He frequently lectures at the Bologna Business School, the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra, Italy.

Photography by Duccio Battistrada

Other Books

Global Brooklyn: Designing Food Experiences in World Cities

‘Global Brooklyn’ is a new transnational aesthetic regime of urban consumption. It may look shabby and improvised, but it is all carefully designed. This book follows this phenomenon across different world cities, arguing for a stronger appreciation of design and materialities in understanding food cultures.

Food

THE MIT PRESS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE SERIES

A consumer’s guide to the food system, from local to global: our part as citizens in the interconnected networks, institutions, and organizations that enable our food choices.

Knowing Where It Comes From: Labeling Traditional Foods to Compete in a Global Market

Knowing Where It Comes From examines the way claims about the origins and meanings of traditional foods get made around the world, from Italy and France to Costa Rica and Thailand.

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Food is more than just a way to provide fuel to our bodies, especially in the consumer culture in which we are increasingly enmeshed.

– Fabio Parasecoli

Upcoming Events

JUNE 21, 2022

“Gastronativism: Food, Identity, politics
5:00 pm CET
Bibliothèue Historique de la Ville de Paris
Paris, France
FREE event (in French)
Info here

July 6, 2022

“Gastronativism: Food, Identity, politics
6:00 p.m. CET
M9- Museo del Novecento
Mestre, Italy
FREE event (in Italian)
Info here

AUGUST 2, 2022

“Gastronativism: Food and Politics
with Marion Nestle and Krishnendu Ray
6:30 p.m. EST
Museum of the City of New York
New York City
Tickets here

Contact Author

info@fabioparasecoli.com